Electronic forms are widely used to transfer information over computer networks. Typically, a computer user operating a Web Browser such as Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer views a Web Site and selects a link that results in the downloading of a form to the users computer. The form may be a static form or may be dynamically generated in response to user information. A mechanism for creating and processing such forms is described in U.S. patent Ser. No. 09/325,533 for a “Universal Forms Engine,” which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
When a form is posted, the submitted information is typically stored in a database. Authorized database users desiring to access the information can query the database using a database query language or, preferably, use a graphical user interface provided by a database programmer. If the database is continually being updated, an authorized database user will not necessarily know when information of interest has been received on an electronic form and will therefore have to query the database periodically. Alternatively, a skilled computer programmer can write a program that automatically responds to the submission of a form. Such programs are commonly used, for example, to acknowledge the receipt of purchase orders submitted as electronic forms over the Internet.
The Standout® system from CollegeNET, Inc., the assignee of the present invention, is an example of a system in which forms are submitted electronically, information from the forms is stored in a database, and then the database is queried by authorized users. In the Standout® system prospective college applicants can create customized student profiles that are searchable by recruiters or other college personnel. The Standout® system is described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/479,271, which is hereby incorporated by reference. In the Standout® system, a prospective applicant completes and submits over a computer network an electronic form that includes multiple fields of information. The information in the form is stored in corresponding fields of a database. An authorized user, such as a college recruiter, searches the database to identify prospective applicants having desired characteristics. Thus, the Standout® system provides a system by which institutions can search through a pool of prospective applicants to locate qualified individuals and by which prospective applicants can present themselves to the institutions. The Standout® database is continually updated by the students. The information is therefore current, and the student profiles are immediately available on line to recruiters as the profiles are created and updated.
Although the Standout® system is a help to college recruiters and applicants, a recruiter is required to manually search the Standout® database to locate potential recruits. The recruiter can miss potential recruits that complete or edit profiles after the recruiter performs a search, so the recruiter must search frequently, even though most of the repetitive searches may not produce results.
It is an object of the invention to provide for the automatic transmission of information to one or more people or computer systems when the content of a submitted electronic form meets a criterion;
It is another object of the invention to provide a user with an interface for generating a criteria template that defines a match criterion to be used to trigger the transmission of information when the match criterion is satisfied by the content of a submitted electronic form;
It is a further object of the invention to provide for such automatic transmission of information to a recipient whose identity is determined from the content of the electronic form;
It is yet another object of the invention to provide for such automatic transmission of information having form and content determined from the content of the form;
It is yet a further object of the invention to provide such an interface that allows a user without the skills of a professional computer programmer to generate the criteria template;
It is still a further object of the invention to provide for automatically generating e-mail notification when data in an electronic form submitted over a computer network meets a specified criterion;
It is still another object of the invention to provide a method of determining from a large amount of potentially relevant electronic information being continually submitted over a computer network through electronic forms by multiple users, information of interest to an individual and automatically bringing that information to the attention of the individual; and
It is still a further object of the invention to provide rapid notification to a recruiter when a potential recruit submits a profile matching the criteria specified by the recruiter.
In the present invention, first computer users complete electronic forms and submit them over a computer network such as the Internet. The forms include fields through which the users provide values for parameters corresponding to the fields. The set of values for all parameters specified in the form is referred to as the form value set. Second computer users use criteria template generation interfaces to generate criterion templates. Each criterion template defines a match criterion comprising a criterion value set, that is, a value or set of values corresponding to one or more of the parameters in the forms. The criterion template generation interface provides the second users with the ability to generate criterion templates without the assistance of a professional computer programmer.
When a form is posted by one of the first users, the form value set or a subset thereof is automatically compared to the match criterion specified by one or more of the criterion templates previously defined by one or more of the second users. If the form value set satisfies the match criterion, information is automatically transmitted to one or more people or computers. The information to be transmitted can be preset or can be determined from the form value set. For example, the transmitted information can include part or all of the electronic form content or can be a simple notification stating that a form having a parameter or parameters of specified values has been posted. The person or persons to whom the information is transmitted can also be preset or can be determined from the value set of the form.
The form and content of the information to be transmitted, as well as the recipients of the transmitted information, can be specified by the second users using the criterion template generation interface. Alternatively, the second users can use a notification specification generation interface to separately create a notification specification that defines explicitly or by rule the content and form of the information to be transferred and one or more recipients. The notification specification is then mapped to or associated with one or more criterion templates by the second user so that when the submitted form satisfies the match criteria of the associated criteria templates, information as specified in the notification specification is transmitted to the recipients specified in the notification specification.
The criterion template generation interface, in combination in some embodiments with the notification specification generation interface, allows a user to create a criteria template and to define the form, content, and recipients of the information to be transmitted without the assistance of a skilled computer programmer.
Receipt of a single electronic form can trigger the generation of multiple data transmissions in response to satisfying a single match criterion. It is also possible for a single electronic form to satisfy more than one criteria template and thereby trigger multiple transmissions of information. The information could be transferred to people or to computer systems.
When the invention is used with the Standout® system, it eliminates the requirement that the college recruiter repeatedly and manually conduct searches of the database and that the financial aid administrator manually inspect submitted applications prior to acting on them.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention described hereinafter form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other methods and structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.